Exploring the nature of giftedness in preschool children

Qualitative and quantitative measures were utilized to explore the abilitie s of 11 young children nominated by their parents as gifted. A part-time pr eschool enrichment program provided a naturalistic setting in which to inve stigate measures that might reflect potential giftedness, predict later ach ievement, and reveal individual profiles of development. The curriculum inv ited children to display any differences from typical preschoolers. Charact eristics nominated by parents as indicators of their child's giftedness wer e consistent with indicators in the research literature and were generally supported by norm-referenced test results and teacher observations. In spit e of test limitations, both quantitative and qualitative measures played a valuable role in revealing advanced abilities amidst diverse profiles of ab ilities, skills, and interests. Longitudinal data would help to confirm the potential apparent in some of these children as giftedness.